As black smoke towered skyward and flames shot from a building engulfed in fire, a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the base fire department save the day and the building.

What they found instead was the 332d Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron’s fire and emergency services flight deployed strategically around the building and watched it burn. The building, along with two others nearby, was used for training Feb. 16 by the firefighters.

“The live fire training served two purposes,” said Master Sgt. David Lawrence, fire and emergency services assistant chief of B-shift. “First, there were three structures that required demolition, and second, firefighters rarely have the chance to undergo realistic live fire training.

“Most training facilities consist of concrete buildings with liquid propane gas fires,” he said. “These fires produce the visual effect, but the heat and smoke conditions are totally different. These fires were designed to heighten firefighter awareness and increase confidence operating in a fire and smoke filled environment.”

The fire department took several steps in preparation for the live-fire training. The firefighters took turns cutting holes in the walls with forcible entry tools, and piles of Class A combustibles were placed in each room to aid ignition.

Class A combustibles are ordinary combustible items such as wood, paper, and trash.

An extensive pre-brief was conducted in accordance with National Fire Protection Association safety standards, handline crews took their places and the first fire was lit using flares. No accelerants such as gasoline or diesel were used to light the fire, Sergeant Lawrence said.

“Initially the plan was to light one room at a time and have the firefighters knock the fire down from the doorway,” Sergeant Lawrence said. “However, the fire spread rapidly throughout the structure and rather than take a chance of endangering our firefighters, we opted to back out and let the structure burn.

“All fires differ,” he said. “Each is unpredictable in nature and these fires demonstrated this. The first two structures were constructed of plywood and 2x4s and burned quicker and hotter than any structural fires I’ve experienced in my 20-year career.”

The last building was a plywood structure surrounded by two metal trailers. The plywood portion burned quickly along with the contents inside the metal trailers, according to Sergeant Lawrence said.

The entire operation lasted eight hours and involved 24 firefighters, including two from the Army. At the end of the day, the only things standing were satisfied firefighters and two burned-out metal shells.